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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:24 pm
by russell
Anyone have a good way to buck solid rivets without the tool made for the procedure. I only have six to do so I do not want to buy the tool. They are pricey.

Russell

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 3:14 pm
by lazairiii
Hey Russell,

If you have a local EAA chapter, someone surely has one I'd bet they'd let you borrow.

George

PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:50 am
by russell
Thanks George. No EAA to my knowledge, but I will check it out. I have had contact with a fellow that runs a repair and maintenance but I shy away from asking a professional for a tool loan. I could very well get booted out of the place! I could; however, ask if he knows someone that might be willing to at least rent one for a short will. Thanks for the suggestion.

Russell

PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:56 pm
by flyalaz
A chisel set for an air hammer could be ground flat to the stem, then a round burr applied to the end to get the shape for right size brazier head rivet you are going to use, then finally polish on a drill press using progressively finer grit paper. If flush rivets are being used, just polish on the press after cutting. I have made a couple in this way and they work great. All that is really needed is the proper diameter burr to grind the hollow in the snap set.

If bucking the rivet is all you need to do, any chunk of steel you have handy will do.

Karl

PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 7:09 am
by russell
Yeah, "bucking" was not the proper term to use I'm sure. Perhaps "setting" would have been better I quess. This could be a useful method for the majority I have to do but some do not offer enough space. Thanks for the suggestion.

PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 4:40 pm
by flyalaz
Some cases I have worked on required the use of offset snaps to do the job, and sometimes the snap still had to be custom ground to clear the obstacle. when even that failed, a bucking bar was placed on the head of the rivet, and the formed end was done with a flat snap. Harder to get a really nice job that way, but if a concave spot is made to fit the head, and you don't try to hammer it in one shot, it will work out o.k. Have any pictures of your problem?

PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 6:40 am
by russell
It's the ones that attach the fitting to the front of the boom. The fitting holds the front down tube to the boom. The others are the ones that hold the nut plates for the engine mount bolts to the spar, if that makes any sense. Some are counter sunk flat head and some pan head.

PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2007 5:13 pm
by flyalaz
Here is the link to another thread that might make things clearer. http://lazair.com/forum/index.php?showt ... ost&p=2970
I'm guessing that these are the rivets you are talking about?

PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:06 am
by russell
The ones that secure the broken piece to the plug.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:15 pm
by flyalaz
I thought those were the ones. The rivet heads were all driven from inside the end cap, so the rivet gun snap needs a small diameter shaft to clear the radius near the flanges, and a homemade tool as I described works.

The holes in the cap look a little big in the picture. They should be drill #30 or around .125"-.128" diameter. A couple thou bigger isn't too bad because the rivets expand a little when driven. If the holes are a lot bigger, you might be forced to go up to 5/32" diameter rivets, but then you will get edge material problems that isn't any better, and the larger heads will probably foul in the radius of the cap flanges.

If big holes happen to be the case, NAS1097 reduced head rivets have a 5/32" shank but have the 1/8" rivet head, and those could be used at the radius areas. Regular MS20426-5-? rivets could be used where you have at least .310" edge material.

These are just suggestions and maybe could be kicked around by some of the guys to see if there might be another fix.

Cheers,
Karl